Anchor to My Sanity
by Icy Rundas
Summary: A Kisame one-shot with my OC, Anissa. OMG! I killed Team Gai! -cries- I didn't mean to! DX


Anchor to Sanity

_I used Falling Inside the Black by Skillet as the inspiration for this one-shot. I do not own anything used in this except Anissa Rose Hamaya and her otter summon, Atashi._

"As a replacement for Itachi, you'll be going to Hoshigakure to retrieve this girl." Leader handed me a photo of the girl I was going after.

"Anissa Rose Hamaya…recently defected from Otogakure…ex-Sound kunoichi?"

"Yes…she has Sound connections…which is why we cannot allow the Leaf to catch wind of her."

"Right. Specialties…Water and Lightning-Style jutsu…one summon…an otter. Will she put up a fight?"

"Most certainly, Kisame. She is an ex-Sound kunoichi after all…" I grinned, showing off my shark-like teeth.

"Good…I like the feisty ones. When do you want me to leave?"

"…now."

* * *

*ANISSA'S P.O.V.*

The nerve of that damn snake Sannin. Kids? Yeah, the next time I see him, I'm taking away his ability to have kids…I sat there in the rain, fuming, just outside the boundaries of Hoshigakure.  
My otter, Atashi, was sleeping at my feet. I was leaning against a tree, stroking Atashi's fur. I looked up past the tree's leaves at the rain.

"I guess it's just you and I for now, Atashi…" The little one woke up and wound himself around my arm, growling.

"I guess not. Someone's coming, huh? They must be pretty strong for you to be acting this way." I sighed and stood up. Atashi came to rest on my shoulder.

"All right, I know you're here, so you might as well come on out." A tall man in a black cloak with red clouds came into view.

"Anissa Rose Hamaya…you're coming with me." I yawned.

"And if I don't?" The man took off his hat and grinned, showing off his pointy teeth. He pulled out a huge sword from behind his back.

"You don't stand a chance against me, so why don't you just come quietly?" I realized who he was.

"You are…Kisame Hoshigaki?"

"I am. What of it?" I smirked.

"I don't want to fight you." He gave me a confused look.

"Wha-why?" I gave him a simple answer.

"You were 'Tachi's partner."

"Oh. Okay. But how do you know him?"

"You can't think I was part of Oto forever, can you? I came from Konoha originally." I paused for a minute.

"Do you still want a fight? You must want to judge my strength, yes?" He grinned again.

"But of course." I nudged Atashi on my shoulder and he sprang into the fight, scratching and clawing. I jumped backwards and began doing handsigns. The shark man threw Atashi out of the way and began to do handsigns also. We finished about the same time.

"Water-Style! Water Dragon Jutsu!" Both Water Dragons attacked each other, almost at equal strength. I grit my teeth, willing my dragon to defeat my opponent's. Then, the light bulb went off inside my head. 'Electricity! Of course! Why didn't I think of that before?' While holding the first jutsu steady with my right hand, I began doing one-handed handsigns with my left hand.

"Lightning-Style! Lightning Rod Connection!" A surge of electricity hit me from above, strengthened by the rain storm. It flowed through my fingertips into my water dragon, and then into his, striking him too. As the raw electricity struck him, he vanished.

"Water Clone? Hmm…" I felt his sword, Samehada, press up against my neck. "That's some strong jutsu for such a small woman."

"Hn…Atashi, now!" My otter attempted another attack on the man, but was thrown several yards away. I turned around to face him. He clamped his hands down tightly on my shoulders, probably bruising them.

"A tip, if you please, Kisame. Never touch a human lightning rod. Not if you don't wish to be electrocuted, that is." I pointed up and his eyes followed my finger. He released my shoulders and stepped back a few feet right moments before the lightning struck. I looked at him with slight bewilderment.

"You know something? You've got quite the reflexes for a man your size." I released the lightning.

"All right. You've had your fight. What…what do you think? About me, I mean." He thought for a minute.

"Hmm…I don't know about you yet. You seem pretty strong, and you're pretty smart. But the pretty ones usually turn out to be the weakest link." I raised an eyebrow.

"Let's go, Hamaya."

"Last name basis, Kisame? You'll make me cry. Come, Atashi. We're leaving" The otter cautiously approached me, wary of my new partner, and climbed on my shoulder.

"Rat…" I chuckled.

"Otter, Kisame. Atashi's not like that Yakushi. The traitor…" He pushed me lightly and we began walking.

"I heard about Itachi. Shame…he was a good ninja."

"Yeah…" I thought quietly for a while.

"You were friends, weren't you? You and Itachi, I mean."

"…as close as you can get in the Akatsuki, I suppose. Not really friends, but we got along the best." I frowned.

"So I guess it'll take you a while to get used to having a female partner, hmm?"

"Don't say 'hmm' after your sentences. You'll start sounding like Deidara did." I chuckled.

"All right then, yeah." The man next to me sent me a half-glare, and then grinned. "I don't know. I guess I could get used to having you as my partner, as long as you don't hold me back."

"All right. I won't hold you back if you don't act like you're so much more superior than I am."

"I'm not making any promises, Hamaya." I waved it off.

"Anissa, if you please, Kisame."

"Fine…Anissa." He said my name slowly, as if testing out exactly how it would sound. 'I guess I could get used to you as my partner as well…'

* * *

Over time, Kisame and I got used to being partners and we made a pretty good team. Then there was one fight that changed everything (dramatic, aren't I?) The attack on Sunagakure's Kazekage, Gaara had been before I joined the Akatsuki, but its aftermath, even now, involved me. Apparently, Kisame had fought a group of Leaf ninja, and on an outing Pein sent us on, we ran into them again.

"They're stronger than they were before…" I grinded my teeth together as I dodged a kunai.

"Yeah. What do you wanna do? Fight? Retreat?"

"Lead them toward that canyon. We can fill it with water and you can-"

"Finish them my way. Right. Got it." I followed along with his plan; after all, he was the one that had fought them before, not me. I lured the Konohagakure ninja toward the ravine. "Anissa…keep them busy while I fill the canyon with water."

"Okay." He squeezed my shoulder.

"Atashi! Attack!" Needless to say, having Kisame as a partner meant that my summon and I had to get better. So that's almost all we did when we weren't on missions for Pein. It was four against two, and our opponents were all using tai-jutsu; something I wasn't particularly good with. There was a Hyuuga (a strong one at that), a weapons mistress, a boy with strange eyebrows, and their sensei, who looked like the boy with the crazy eyebrows.

"Sensei! Should we use it?"

"…yes. Let's use it!" I stopped moving and raised an eyebrow. 'Use what?' The two that looked alike began to open their Inner Gates. My eyes widened a little when I realized what they were attempting. 'They're going to use the Hidden Lotus on me…there's no way I'd survive that.' I chanced a quick glance in my partner's direction. He met my gaze and nodded. I began doing handsigns like crazy. Atashi grew in size dramatically, attacking the team head on, distracting them long enough to move as quickly as I could to the water-filled canyon. I stood elegantly perched on top of the water, still furiously making handsigns. Stupidly, all four of them followed me onto the water.

"Now, 'Nissa! Finish it!"

"Right! Lightning-Style! Entity of Thunder! Lightning Rod Connection! Bed of Lightning!" A massive being made of lightning formed in the sky. I pressed my index and middle fingers together and held them up toward the sky. The dragon-like being dived toward my fingers and used my body as the connection to the ground. I felt the raw energy pour through my body. The lightning flowed through me, hitting my feet and spreading through the water toward the ninja. They never saw it coming, and they wouldn't be able to get away due to my last jutsu, the Bed of Lightning. I closed my eyes and clasped my hands over my ears so I wouldn't see them fry or hear their screams. When it was over, I stepped onto dry land and the water started to empty out of the canyon. Kisame approached me.

"Yuck…that was nasty." I scrunched up my nose so the acrid smell of burnt flesh wouldn't reach my sensitive nostrils.

"Yeah," I said weakly.

"Don't touch me, Kisame. I still have some of the electricity flowing through me and I don't want you to get shocked." After most of the water was gone, I noticed how far down it was. A fall like that could kill a person if they were to fall; even a ninja would take some damage from a fall that high.

"Kisame?"

"?"

"I'm tired…" Indeed I was. Physically exhausted and almost flat out of chakra isn't a good combination. I felt myself falling backwards, into the black ravine.

"Anissa!" My eyes closed.

* * *

"What did I tell you about letting her run herself to the point of exhaustion?"

"Uh, not to do it?"

"Exactly. Idiot…" That was the first thing I heard when I became aware of my surroundings.

"Kisame's not an idiot, Kakuzu…just slow sometimes…" Even though my eyes were closed, I could picture my partner's surprise.

"You're awake, 'Nissa. Good…" After he said that, he mumbled something I couldn't quite catch and our resident medic chuckled.

"Cute." I slowly opened my eyes, getting them used to the light.

"All right, she'll be fine. Just go easy on her, Kisame…heh…"

"Shut it, Kakuzu." He left, leaving me alone with my partner.

"Kisame? What was Strings talking about?"

"Nothing, Anissa." I frowned.

"Did I…shock you?" He rubbed the back of his head.

"Only a little." I closed my eyes again, trying to understand his actions.

"I shocked you, but you still didn't let me fall…why?" The aura he gave off made me think he was uneasy.

"Leader would get mad at me if I lost another partner so soon." I sighed.

"…I'm an S-Ranked criminal. I thought I gave up on having feelings a long time ago. But you…you are my anchor to sanity. I thought that when I got a new partner since Itachi died, I would go crazy without him holding me back. But you've done it without doing anything."

"Really, now?"

"Heh, if Itachi was still here, the knowledge of me going soft could make him laugh."

"You're not going soft…" I opened my eyes and sat up slowly, scooted over and patting the bed I was resting on. He sat down next to me, giving me his confused look.

"I'm the anchor to your sanity, huh?" I set my hand on his shoulder, pulling him closer.

"All right, I'll be your anchor. As long as I don't have to have children." I grinned.

"They'd have sharp teeth, huh?" He looked appalled.

"I hate kids…" I brought his face closer to mine and pecked him on the lips.

"I'm kidding."

"You're gonna be a broken anchor to my sanity in a minute…" I started laughing and he tackled me.

***The ending made me laugh. :D ***


End file.
